I have not had as much time to think about the work here at Common Ground Theological Institute (CTI) as I anticipated, let alone to report on it through this blog.

The course on Ezekiel ended yesterday, final exams being graded and everything, yet I never reported anything about the beginning or middle of the course.

The Syllabus

I have uploaded the original syllabus for the course here.

I was not able to cover several of the planned chapters (I cut 18 and 38–39), but God in his gentleness enabled the course goals to be met for (most of?) the students.

Teaching

We covered a variety of genres and discussed many difficult passages while also getting a sense for the book’s place in covenantal history, its flow and structure, its theological message, and its christocentricity.

If anyone is interested, I could send along the guide for the first 6 topics of the course if you email me. As for the passage-level interpretation, I have relied on my own work with the Hebrew, on Daniel I. Block’s two-volume NICOT commentary, and on Iain M. Duguid’s NIVAC commentary (currently 50% off at WTSBooks!).

Thanks to one person’s generous donation, I was able to leave a copy of Duguid’s very accessible commentary in CTI’s library!

I learned so much about teaching in this context, and the Lord led me into a place of deeper dependence upon him as I affirm that Christ is the true Teacher of the Church (Matt 23.10; Col 2.2–3) by his Spirit (John 14.26; 16.13; 1 Cor 2.10; 1 John 2.20, 27).

Students

The students are very earnest, have very long attention spans, and have great stamina in their studies. My course was the last of three “block courses” (week-long intensives), and the students were still attentive and engaged and hard-working.

CTI fills a gap in theological education for Christians in Kenya. Many students will be able to transfer credits earned here into universities in Kenya and Africa for further studies in theology. It is helpful for young students who did not complete A-levels but who would like to try to qualify for university-level studies in theology.

And many students are older and have no intention of transferring credits. They attend CTI because they want to study God’s Word and know him better. The older students, with some notable exceptions, tended to have less (English) educational background, and this course’s content came much less easily for them. But God who judges the heart knows the precious value of their desire to know him better, and God himself is their Teacher.

Next Year?

The principal and dean have invited me back several times. When they speak about it, they say, “When you come back next year. . . .”

Let me say it: I would love to come back next year!

But I also know that I cannot make commitments yet. Unlike David—who is a full-time World Witness missionary with fundraising that covers his travels to several institutions in Kenya, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda each year—I have not yet been called and sent as a missionary in my denomination. (I cannot be ordained for that until I finish at Westminster, anyway.) I cannot say for sure that I will be able to come back to Kenya next August. But I will if the Lord opens those doors again.